Circuit judge lowers father’s bail despite ‘horrifying’ toddler photos

Comments

 SEE HOW THIS STORY DEVELOPED

EMAIL STORY

PRINT STORY

» 120 days ago: Circuit judge lowers father’s bail despite ‘horrifying’ toddler photos «

(WJZ)
A slide in the yard of John Griffin's Rodgers Forge home stands empty. Griffin is accused in the death of his 2-year-old son.

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - The photos of 2-year-old Andrew Griffin depicted a child so beaten and starved, a judge had to turn away.

“I’ve seen enough,” Baltimore County Circuit Judge Timothy Martin said Thursday, closing the laptop containing the photos that prosecutors had placed on his desk. “The photos I just viewed were upsetting to the extreme. They are horrifying.”

But Martin said the gruesome death suffered by Andrew in the Towson neighborhood of Rodgers Forge in December wasn’t enough to hold his father on $1.5 million bail.

Martin lowered bail for John Griffin, 39, to $100,000 but worried aloud that he “could be dead wrong” in making that decision. A $100,000 bail means Griffin could be released from jail if he pays at least $10,000.

Before Martin’s decision, Griffin’s attorney, Joe Murtha, argued that Griffin’s strong ties to the community and lack of criminal record mean he should be released.

“His life history doesn’t suggest a person involved in criminal activity,” said Murtha, who called his client, a graduate of Loyola College in Maryland and network engineer, a “very productive member of society.”

Prosecutor Robin Coffin objected to Murtha’s arguments, saying Griffin is being investigated for the suspected abuse of another one of the couple’s five surviving underage children.

“What happened to Andrew Griffin was tantamount to torture,” Coffin said. “He was beaten. He was bruised and he was starved to death. It’s shocking to the conscience. ... It’s so disturbing.”

Griffin and his wife, Susan, 38, both of the 300 block of Old Trail Road, were taken into custody after Andrew died Dec. 26 at St. Joseph’s Medical Center, where his father had taken him to the emergency room, according to a police report. The boy would have turned 3 in February.

Hospital officials reported that the boy — who weighed about 14 pounds — was cold to the touch and unresponsive, had several cuts and bruises about his head, and had a blackened right eye.

John Griffin told police he and his wife had administered CPR for about 20 minutes after noticing Andrew was unconscious. The couple then delayed bringing the child to the hospital while they discussed caring for their four younger children, the father said.

The father also told police that the child was injured a few days earlier after falling into the Christmas tree, as well as several months ago when he and his mother fell as she carried him down the stairs.

The father added that the child was not able to hold down food after suffering a flu-like illness the previous summer. According to the police report, the victim’s spine, ribs and pelvic bones were all clearly defined.

Griffin said Andrew was not taken to his pediatrician because of a billing dispute. The couple’s other children — ages 1 to 10 — have been placed in the custody of Child Protective Services.

Susan Griffin, whose attorney, Michelle Moodispaw, was in the courtroom Thursday, remains held on $1 million bail.

lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com

SEE HOW THIS STORY DEVELOPED

EMAIL STORY

PRINT STORY

» 120 days ago: Circuit judge lowers father’s bail despite ‘horrifying’ toddler photos «